


Looking Forward

by orphan_account



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: College, Drinking & Talking, Explicit Language, Gen, Smoking, mentions of biphobia, mentions of transphobia, time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-18 09:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11871813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ernest Vega is officially an adult- after a week of celebrating his 18th, he decides to spend the night with his closest and oldest friend.In which Lucien and Ernest talk the past, present and their future.-set four years after the game-





	Looking Forward

**Author's Note:**

> yoyoyo ernest and lucien are my faves
> 
> ps i don't know if gap years are a thing in america so don't @ me if this isn't how your education system works  
> also there's this one bit of fanart of mary n damien in college or some shit in the 80s and theyre both punks and this is my favourite headcanon

The last week had been busy for Ernest. He'd been hungover twice, seen more friends than he'd spoken to in months and drunk way more than he'd care to admit. After all, it wasn't every day you turned eighteen.

The Sunday after his birthday he'd decided he wanted to spend with one of his closest friends. He'd been to clubs and parties all week yet none of them had involved Lucien- mostly because he was a year younger than him and none of his friends really knew him. He showed up outside the Bloodmarch household in the afternoon; Damien invited him in as he usually did, offering anything he might need before letting him go up to Lucien's room. He didn't bother knocking, taking off his jacket and dumping it in the floor before sitting beside Lucien, who was laying on his bed with his eyes shut and his stereo playing some kind of grunge music that Ernest didn't recognise. "Hey, man."

Lucien opened an eye and smiled, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. "Hey, when did you get here?"

"Just now," he answered, leaning over to Lucien's stereo and turning it down, "How have you been?" Lucien had changed a lot over the past few years- he'd got rid of his medusa piercing and one of his snake bites, now sporting a septum piercing as well as the others he'd already had. He'd grown out his hair and had it pulled back into a ponytail, his eyes no longer rimmed with heavy black makeup. He still wore makeup, most notably his dark red lipstick, but he generally looked a lot less like he was on his way to a Fall Out Boy concert and more like he just really liked wearing makeup. He still wore mostly all black, but once again, he looked a lot less like an emo kid from 2006 and more like one of those cool grungy hipsters Ernest saw all over his Instagram. The '666' that he'd tattooed on him so long ago was covered up now with one of two rather impressive full sleeves- in fact, a majority of Lucien's upper body had tattoos on it now- save for his face and hands, of course. He was an intimidating sight- and up until about a year ago, he had the attitude to match.

Lucien shrugged. "It's been... the same, I guess," he said, playing with the frayed denim of his ripped jeans, "How was your birthday? Did you like your present?"

At this, Ernest laughed, playing fondly with the small black ring in his ear lobe- in the hole that Lucien had put there with a needle a few years ago. "The earrings are great," he said, "But the uh..."

"The porn magazines?"

"Yeah... my dad wasn't too pleased," he grinned, "But hey, at least I got something to do hungover." Lucien chuckled, turning his music off completely and standing up, stretching and going over to his windows to open one.

"I can't believe you're taking a gap year, man," he said, "I thought you'd go straight to college- didn't you have your eyes on some Ivy League place?"

Ernest shrugged. "I wanna spend a year to relax and make up my mind," he said, "I don't really know if I want to go to college, but if I do, I might as well aim big, right?" Lucien turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't know?" he let out a dry laugh, "You  _have_ to go man, you’re so smart."

"Yeah, but I bet it'll be boring. Just more school and more teachers and more-"

"More what?" Lucien sat back down beside him, "If you stay here, you'll be even more bored. When I dropped out and people asked me 'what about college?', I said the same thing, you know and look where I am now. Do you wanna end up like me? Almost twenty, still living with your dad with no job and a criminal record?" Ernest went silent for a few moments as he sighed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Look, you're fucking smart, man. Smarter than I ever was and I want you to look at me and realise what I realised way too late. I want you to do well, Ernest. I want you to take the opportunities that I didn't take so you don't end up like me." There was a long silence, during which Ernest sighed, leaning his head on Lucien's chest.

"I used to have a crush on you," he admitted, breaking the silence.

"Oh?"

"I don't anymore," he continued, "But I never wanted to get in the way of you and Violet so I never said anything." He felt Lucien stiffen upon saying his girlfriend's name and he frowned. "What's wrong? Did something happen with Violet?"

Lucien sighed and nodded, letting go of Ernest and laying back on his bedsheets. "Yeah, we... hit a rough patch in our relationship," he said, "She got pissed when I told her I was bi, and from then on she was just kinda... cold towards me. Technically we're just 'taking a break' right now, but she doesn't answer my calls or texts and we haven't spoken in weeks so we've basically broken up."

"Shit, Lucien, I'm so sorry."

"Nah, it's cool," he said, "She was a total snob, anyway. Insisted on taking pictures of us when we were about to have sex to put on her Instagram. 'For the aesthetic', apparently."

Ernest lay beside him, pulling a face. "That's gross," he said, "I thought those pictures were staged, dude. I didn't think you were actually naked in them." The two of them laughed again, and Lucien once again seemed relaxed and at ease. Whatever was going on with his (now ex) girlfriend clearly couldn't be affecting him that much. Soon after, the silence returned, but this time it wasn't tense or awkward like it was before. Lucien closed his eyes once more, and Ernest looked around his room, smiling to himself. This time last year the walls were covered in posters from Kerrang, but they were now clear of all that, a few signed ones now in their place from bands that he'd never heard of. He'd changed a lot over the past few years- and he had a feeling that what had triggered that change had been his arrest.

It couldn't have been mouch more than about a year ago now- his dad had come into his room and sat down beside him, looking somewhere between confused and angry. He'd explained what had happened- Lucien had been caught vandalising a car that belonged to one of his teachers. He didn't find out more until later- it seemed to have been politically motivated, with Lucien spray painting 'transphobes suck my dick' on the car which had appently belonged to one of his teachers. He'd served 90 days in prison before being released. Damien had ended up paying some of the fine for him, and when Ernest asked him about it later said teacher had refused to used his dad's correct pronouns and made a point of saying 'Lucien's mom' in class to emphasize their obvious predjudice. No-one seemed to hold anything against Lucien, and while Damien had given him a short 'don't commit crimes' talk, he seemed pretty proud of his son. What a weird family. The only problem with this was that it gave Lucien a criminal record- which ruined his chances of gettting half the jobs he looked into. He was lucky that he came from a well-off family or he would've been screwed. When it became clear that the school cared more about some paint of a car than a literal transphobe working there, Lucien dropped out- besides, he'd skipped so many classes that his chances of actually passing anything were next to zero. 

Lucien only seemed to regret it now that he was that much older- and that much more mature, too. Ernest looked at him as he lay beside him, eyes closed and burgandy-painted lips curved into a small smile. He prodded him to get his attention, hesitating for a second before asking, "Why did you change?"

"Huh?"

"Y'know... stopped doing that whole causing trouble thing?" Ernest said, "When we first started talking you tried to bury me alive and sold me oregano for twenty dollars pretending it was weed. Then after you got arrested and dropped out, you kind stopped all that. Why?"

Lucien sat up, taking his hair out of its ponytail and started to fiddle with the hair tie, twisting it around his fingers. He chewed at his bottom lip in thought before eventually sighing and saying, "I didn't want to make things harder for my dad... Go open a window, will you? I'm gonna smoke." Ernest did as he said as he took a packet of cigarettes out of his drawer, lighting one with a lighter he assumed he kept in his pocket before going to stand beside him by the window. "I know it wasn't easy for him. My dad's pregnancy was completely accidental, and instead of sticking by him, my other dad just left. He had to raise me by himself, which is hard enough but to do that while transitioning and moving house must have been real difficult." He blew out some smoke and Ernest did his best not to cough- it had been a while since he'd even picked up a cigarette and he'd forgotten how horrible the things smelt. "Robert looked after me quite a bit on days my dad couldn't manage it- which is probably half the reason I ended up like... well, like that. You know, causing trouble, breaking things, vandalizing shit-"

"Burying me alive?"

"Yeah, that too," Lucien laughed, holding the cigarette between his teeth, "Dad was amazing though. He did his best to understand, sent me to therapy and then pulled me out of it as soon as I said I didn't want to do it. He was never angry but I could tell it was stressing him out. After I came back from my time in prison, he was... different. Still just as supportive as kind and loving but he seemed..." He paused, searching for the right word, "... Tired. I knew then that I'd gone too far and I know that I'll probably never be able to do half the shit I wanted to because of it, I'm just happy that I'm now helping my dad out and he's not having to worry about me so much." He took a long drag of his cigarette, smiling to himself, "The most worried he's been recently was when I told him that I'd been having sex with my girlfriend, but he doesn't even have to worry about that anymore."

"Did your dad like Violet?"

"Nah, but he was super nice about it. Never said anything." He placed his cigarette back between his lips, running a hand through his hair. "I've been looking around for jobs so that I can pay my dad back for the fine I got. I feel bad knowing that he spent half my teen years clearing up after me...." He turned to face Ernest, "Was your dad cool with your rebellious phase?"

Laughing, Ernest shook his head. "Dad was the opposite of 'cool', dude," he said, "I think it's coz I only called him by his first name, that probably just pissed him off."

"You tried so hard to be cool back then," Lucien said, "With your fucking hoodie always up indoors."

"Hey! You weren't any better!"

"Yeah, but I pulled it off. You just looked like a pissed off teenager."

"That's only because your dad let you!" Ernest folded his arms, "If your dad wasn't just as edgy as you, you would've been just like me." Lucien opened his mouth to respond but shut it before he said anything- while he wouldn't necessarily describe his dad as 'edgy', he knew that this was true. When he'd told his dad he wanted piercings, he was totally fine with it. When he asked if he could shave off some of his hair and dye it silver, he booked an appointment as soon as he could. Lucien wondered whether this came from him being a goth or if it had something to do with that one photo of him and Mary in college with more studs, chains and black lipstick than he'd ever been near. The 80s certainly were an interesting time. Thank God he wasn't alive to see them.

Changing the subject, Lucien sat up, going to the door. "I'm gonna get a drink," he said, "Do you want one?"

"Sure, I'll have whatever you have." Ernest watched as he left the room, sighing as he shut the door behind him. He thought about what he'd said to him earlier about college. While it was true that he wasn't a hundred per cent sure about it, Lucien definitely had as good point. Okay, he probably wasn't going to get a criminal record or end up behind bars for three months, but he probably would be bored out of his mind in the same cul-de-sac he'd lived in for the last eleven years. Plus, a bunch of kids from his grade were also going to be staying in Maple Bay, and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck with them. Not that he had anything against them- okay, he did. They'd been the same as him- 'trying to be cool', as Lucien had put it. Only they were still trying, and at 18, he didn't necessarily want them to be the only people his age that he really knew. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps going to college would be the best thing for him.

Ernest was so lost in thought that he only realised that Lucien had come back into the room when he felt him tap his shoulder to get his attention. He looked up and smiled as Lucien handed him a can of beer (which he no longer had to hide from his dad now that he was an adult, thank fuck), opening it and taking a swig as he sat down on the bed beside him. He hesitated for a second, waiting for him to start drinking his own beer before asking, "Do you really think I should go straight to college?"

"Of course," Lucien turned to face him, "I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't think it was true, Ernest." Ernest raised an eyebrow and he laughed, putting his drink down. "What? I'm serious. You're the most intelligent guy I know," he said, "And you're also kinda my only friend, so-"

"Wait, your only friend?"

"Yeah, while I was too busy getting a criminal record and dropping out, all my friends were too busy getting their lives together and sorting out college to bother with me," Lucien shrugged, "Had a few friends after that, but I met them all through Violet. Not long before our 'break' started they all became distant. Unfollowed me on Instagram, deleted me from the group chat, stopped telling me when they were hanging out. Even started charging me full price for weed. Since then I've mostly been keeping to myself. I help Dad around the house with stuff, but I don't really do anything else. You're the only one I really talk to anymore, man. So... thanks, I guess. For sticking around."

Ernest smiled to himself as he took another swig of his beer. "No problem," he quickly gulped down the rest of his drink, wiping his lip with the back of his sleeve before throwing the can over his shoulder to join the many others scvattered over Lucien's floor, "I'm just glad that you're starting to get back on the right track. Sure, I looked up to you for all the dumb shit you did but..." He sighed as his friend finished his drink and crushed the can in his hand, "...In the end, this is way better. Who knows where you'd be now if you'd continued that shit."

"Probably in prison. Serving a proper sentance." Lucien sighed, "I hate that I did all that. At least your dad tried to do something about it but..." He threw the can on the floor with the others, laying down on his bed once more, "You can't tell anyone this, but I mostly carried on doing all the shit I did because I knew Dad wouldn't do anything about it. After Dad let me stop going to therapy, I knew that no matter what I did he would just give me the whole, 'I'm dissappointed but I still love you' talk and just let me off. I misused his trust and I've always felt terrible for it... God, if I could only tell my 15-year-old self what a cunt I was."

"You do realise in another four years you're going to be saying the same thing about yourself now?"

Lucien opened his mouth to say something back before closing it and frowning, folding his arms. "I would try and argue with that but you're probably right," he said, "Hopefully in four years time I'll actually have a job and a place of my own."

"Why would you wanna move out of here, though?" Ernest asked, "This place is massive, you're not the one paying the bills and even if he is a little werid, your dad's still super cool."

"I'm basically an adult, dude, I don't wanna be relying on my dad when I'm fucking thirty," he sighed, resting the back of his head on his hands, "Besides, as cool as this place is, I want some control over how my house looks. I'm thinking mostly grey with the odd bit of yellow or red..." he let out a dry chuckle, "Man, I wish I went to college." The two were silent for a while after that. Ernest sat silently beside him as Lucien opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a few minutes, his smile slowly fading. When the silence was finally broken, it was Lucien that spoke again, sitting up and tucking a strand of hair that had escaped his ponytail behind his ear. "Hey Ernest?"

"Yeah?"

"Go to fucking college."

"Sure."

"Don't end up like me."

"What's so bad about you? I'm sure you'll get a job and shit at some point."

"Yeah, but I fucking hate myself."

Ernest didn't respond for a few moments. He pursed his lips as he thought of how he should respond, hesitating before saying, "It'll get better, Lucien." Lucien rasied an eyebrow. "I promise."

Lucien didn't answer as he stood up, strecthing before pulling his hair out of its ponytail, combing it through with his fingers as he went to the door once more. "Whatever. I'm gonna ask Dad to order pizza, you cool with vegetarian shit?"

"Sure, as long as you get stuffed crust," he grinned, "Oh, and ask them to get rid of the olives. That shit's gross." lucien turned to leave, but paused at the doorway.

"Ernest?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks, man."

Ernest frowned. "Thanks for what?" He didn't get a reply, but he smiled to himself all the same as Lucien left the room without another word. He was one of his weirder friends, but he was his best friend all the same and honestly? Even if he were paid a million dollars, he still wouldn't change a single thing about him.


End file.
